Funding

Academics unimpressed with Ottawa’s new research fundPublish Date: 10-DEC-2014 08:55 AMThe Canada First Research Excellence Fund seems to be the Harper government’s response to fierce criticism about its science policies. It was announced with much fanfare last week (although it had appeared in the spring budget) by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as an unprecedented investment to strengthen Canada’s position in the world of science. But it came on the heels of an uproar in the scientific community over the imminent shuttering of a world-class science facility at the University of Ottawa, highlighting precisely what many critics believe is wrong with the Conservatives’ approach to science.

Science shouldn’t be all businessPublish Date: 09-DEC-2014 08:44 AMLast Thursday, during a visit to IBM headquarters in Markham, Ont., Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled his government’s science and technology strategy. Like all Harper government-branded products, it has a grandiose title: “Seizing Canada’s Moment: Moving Forward in Science, Technology and Innovation” – and features the buzzword du jour, “innovation.” It also opens with some bons mots from the PM himself… What the Prime Minister announced was not really a science strategy, but a business strategy – and a short-sighted, self-serving one at that.

Shifting Sands: How Energy is Shaping Canada’s Foreign PolicyPublish Date: 09-DEC-2014 08:41 AMThe recent rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline project in November by the United States Senate is only the latest chapter of an ongoing saga reflecting a dramatic shift in Canada’s foreign relations in recent years. The Canadian government has been engaging in an aggressive public relations campaign for its booming oil and gas industry. The strategy includes prominent marketing and behind-the-scenes lobbying in close partnership with oil industry executives. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, first elected in 2006, has long maintained his goal was to make Canada an energy superpower. But he has also changed the country’s role and policies in international climate change efforts as a means to achieve that goal.

Negotiate *this*Publish Date: 09-DEC-2014 08:39 AMLast week, the union that represents government scientists (PIPSC, my former union) tabled a bold negotiating position with Treasury Board (the branch of the government that you negotiate with when you’re a Union), as reported by the Ottawa Citizen. Rather than making it about salary increases, or sick days, as one might have expected, their negotiating position puts the notion of scientific integrity front and centre. My first reaction upon reading a summary of their position was something like “Hell, yes”.

Canada rail safety jobs vacant as budget cuts bitePublish Date: 08-DEC-2014 02:47 PMBudget cuts have left safety-related engineering positions vacant in the Canadian agency responsible for overseeing shipments of dangerous goods, government records show, fuelling worries about trains moving oil across the country. Rail safety is in focus with the boom in oil shipments and a spate of derailments across North America, and the vacancies create a safety risk, industry experts and Canada’s public engineers’ union say.

Public service union using science as a bargaining chipPublish Date: 08-DEC-2014 08:11 AMThe union representing federal scientists and researchers is in contract negotiations this week, and there's more on the table than salaries and benefits. PIPSC is pushing for a 'scientific integrity' policy, which would include changes to protect scientists' right to speak publicly about their research, without government interference. Debi Daviau, president of PIPSC, joined us with the details.

Scientists want revenues from their inventions invested in research: unionPublish Date: 07-DEC-2014 02:45 PMCanada’s federal scientists want contract changes so half of the revenues generated by their inventions and other intellectual property will be plowed back into government research to shore up budgets hit by spending cuts and to attract top talent. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents more than 15,000 scientists, researchers and engineers, is going to the bargaining table this week with a demand to improve science funding as part of its negotiating strategy for 2,300 researchers working in the science-based departments and agencies.

Public-interest science missing from new federal science strategyPublish Date: 07-DEC-2014 02:42 PMThe federal government has just released the revised and updated Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) strategy along with details of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, originally announced in the 2014 budget. “It is unbelievable that the federal government could release a science strategy that only pays lip-service to the research done by government departments and agencies,” says Dr. Katie Gibbs, Executive Director of Evidence for Democracy. “Government research is the core of public-interest science in Canada and crucial for the protecting the health, safety and well being of Canadians.”

Canadian government continues valiant fight in the war against sciencePublish Date: 04-DEC-2014 02:31 PMCanadian scientists are protesting major changes to public research funding which will considerably increase their reliance on industry partners and decrease funding for basic scientific research. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada's main funding source for health science research, has announced plans to slash baseline funding of all research institutes in half, with the slashed funds diverted to a common pool available to any area of health research. To access these funds, researchers will need to obtain additional funding from external sources such as industry. "At least eight" of the 13 CIHR institute boards, as well as individual researchers, have written to CIHR to protest the upcoming changes. The CIHR governing council is appointed by the federal government in 3-year unpaid terms. Its 18 members include politicians, academic researchers, directors of healthcare institutes, and industry representatives.

Scientists will be forced to knock on doors under health research grant changesPublish Date: 03-DEC-2014 10:42 AMThere’s a new controversy raging in Canada’s scientific community as word spreads about impending changes to the country’s major health science research organization. In what has been called a "rebellion," emails are flying as scientists share news about a recent decision by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Governing Council. They say it will force scientists to shop around for matching external funds before they can access public money that used to be granted with no strings attached.

Federal Government Scientists Seek to Protect Scientific Integrity Through Collective BargainingPublish Date: 03-DEC-2014 10:36 AMFederal government scientists are upping the ante in their dispute with the Harper government over continuing cuts to federal science programs and the muzzling of federal government scientists by bringing their concerns directly to the bargaining table. This week, the union representing federal government scientists will table a proposal that would obligate the government to negotiate scientific integrity policies, ensuring adequate public standards of science and support for science are upheld. "Preserving scientific integrity within the federal government is crucial to ensure we can continue to protect Canadians' health, safety and the environment as well as promote genuine innovation," says Debi Daviau, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), which represents approximately 15,000 federal government scientists, engineers and researchers.

Public sector union to take muzzled science issue to bargaining tablePublish Date: 03-DEC-2014 10:30 AMThe union representing government scientists, engineers and professionals says its next contract demands will include an integrity policy to free up muzzled researchers and promote evidence-based policy making. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents 55,000 federal employees, says a scientific-integrity policy is needed to ensure innovation and to protect public health, safety and the environment.

Canadian Unions to Bargain for Scientific Integrity ReformPublish Date: 03-DEC-2014 10:27 AMAs Canadian government scientists start bargaining for their next contract, they aren’t asking for more sick days or a sizable raise—they’re asking for scientific integrity protections, such as the ability to share their research regardless of the results. To put it simply, Canadian scientists are prioritizing the public interest over their own self-interest. On the table will be the right to speak publicly about their work, collaborate with peers, access scientific literature, and have adequate funding to carry out their responsibilities. The unions are also asking for federal departments to be required to develop enforceable policies that would protect researchers and hold those who manipulate or suppress science accountable.

Scientists seeking greater freedomsPublish Date: 02-DEC-2014 02:33 PMCanada's federal scientists are pushing the boundaries of traditional collective bargaining in the Public Service. They are going to the bargaining table with an unprecedented package of contract changes to promote "scientific integrity" in government, including the right of scientists to speak freely and forbidding political interference in their work. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), which represents more than 15,000 scientists, researchers and engineers, said it had released its negotiating position "in the public interest", comprising a list of demands for Treasury Board negotiators.

Scientists push for ‘scientific integrity’ at bargaining tablePublish Date: 02-DEC-2014 10:25 AMCanada’s federal scientists are going to the bargaining table this week with an unprecedented package of contract changes to promote “scientific integrity” in government, including the right of scientists to speak freely and forbidding political interference in their work. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents more than 15,000 scientists, researchers and engineers, is tabling a negotiating position for managing science in the “public interest” with a list of demands for Treasury Board negotiators that dramatically push the boundaries of traditional collective bargaining in the public service.

Harper’s stealth cuts undercut democracyPublish Date: 01-DEC-2014 10:02 AMThe Harper government has made no secret of its intention to tighten Canada’s fiscal belt over the last several years. Since 2010, the prime minister has been working to downsize the budgets of most federal agencies by between five and 10 per cent as part of his Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP). In some cases, such as with the RCMP, the cuts have been as severe as 15 per cent. But DRAP is only part of the picture. A stealth campaign of additional budget-cutting is afoot in Ottawa, occurring under the radar of most Canadians.

Canada can be a global innovation leaderPublish Date: 01-DEC-2014 10:00 AMI met recently with Jonathan Bagger, the new director of TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for nuclear and particle physics. TRIUMF is becoming an innovation driver in nuclear medicine and materials science. It collaborates extensively, with 18 member universities across Canada, and a range of international partnerships. Dr. Bagger, well-known in the world of physics, was himself recruited from the United States after an international search. A successful research enterprise requires the best and brightest lead researchers. A search for those leaders is necessarily international. International collaboration facilitates innovation and should be encouraged. We must focus on talent retention and recruitment and a commitment to repairing Canada’s damaged international reputation in the science, technology and innovation community.

Federal scientists to mount ‘evidence-based’ campaign against government cuts, being muzzledPublish Date: 01-DEC-2014 08:47 AMThe upcoming election is going to be the most important election for science that Canada has seen, say the NDP and Liberal science and technology critics. NDP MP Kennedy Stewart (Burnaby-Douglas, B.C.) and Liberal MP Ted Hsu (Kingston and the Islands, Ont.) both said they think science is set to become a bigger election issue than it has in any recent history. This, they say, in part will be fuelled by a recent decision from the largest public service union in Canada representing scientists and professionals employed by the federal government. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) represents 60,000 government workers, including over 15,000 federal scientists and researchers, and in the lead up to the 2015 election the union has decided to become more politically active.

CFIA Consultations and Canadian Food Safety (PDF)Publish Date: 19-DEC-2014 02:44 AMAs part of the 2014 CFIA Consultations, the Professional Institute of The Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) has submitted a detailed analysis of each of the following proposals:

Scientists Rally in Support of Federal ResearchPublish Date: 27-NOV-2014 11:16 AMOn the morning of October 22, researchers and science staff from Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture & Agri-food Canada and the Department of National Defence demonstrated in Québec city at the entrance of Université Laval in support of research in the federal government.

The Canada First Research Excellence Fund seems to be the Harper government’s response to fierce criticism about its science policies. It was announced with much fanfare last week (although it had appeared in the spring budget) by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as an unprecedented investment to strengthen Canada’s position in the world of science. But it came on the heels of an uproar in the scientific community over the imminent shuttering of a world-class science facility at the University of Ottawa, highlighting precisely what many critics believe is wrong with the Conservatives’ approach to science.